Britain's Got Talent Winners--Diversity--embody the richness and fusion of culture. The members range in gender, race, age, professional background and region. They also fuse different dance styles and music. The name is a great description of the diversity we encountered in Britain.
When we visited Europe, diversity was evident upon arrival in London. We flew Ryan Air for $ 19 from Brussels to London for a two night excursion. We had to switch from American English, to French, to the Queen's English? We encountered people from African nations, the Caribbean, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and India--all with different English accents before we even reached our hotel. I couldn't find a Berlitz tape to help me navigate all the different accents.
Our hotel was in an area of England where people of Jamaican, Portuguese and Spanish descent settled. I went to a Jamaican beauty parlor, ate Portuguese food for lunch and swore that I had to find some traditional English food before heading back to Belgium. I also developed a better understanding of Punk Rock as a result of a BBC documentary regarding the Jubilee, but that is another conversation.
Congratulations Diversity.
Showing posts with label Cultural Fusion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cultural Fusion. Show all posts
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Everyone has a culture
Doesn’t everyone have a culture? If we share the same citizenship, does it mean that we are all the same? This issue was particularly poignant while I was participating in a local activity where everyone was asked to share something from their cultural background. The students of Asian, African, Latin American and Jewish descent had no problem coming up with a presentation. Some were first generation Americans, others were third or more. At that time I don't think anyone identified as Native American though most southerners, black and white, have Native American ancestry.
The white students began to feel left out. They felt they didn't have a culture. The director of the program at the time was highly skilled at facilitating this issue. As the program evolved, one of the advisors developed the category “plain ol' American.” As part of her presentation, she usually shared U.S. American cultural symbols such as baseball and apple pie. The more I encountered people who were unsure of their cultural identity the more I wanted to learn about how people perceived themselves. It has become a significant part of my journey as an interculturalist.
Ten years later when I was developing a course, this issue resurfaced. Before launching a course or adding a new activity to an existing course, I usually put together a focus group. We were researching activities to stimulate cultural conversation. My intern, who is white, couldn't tell me her ethnicity. She identified more as a Catholic. This became particularly relevant to her when she moved from a place with a large Catholic population to a Baptist university in a Baptist town. We concluded that our concept of identity had to be more inclusive.
I attended a Catholic high school, where most of the students were white. However, they knew their Irish, Italian, or Greek roots (See Diverse Birmingham). Even if there was intermarriage in their backgrounds, they knew the cultural roots of each side of their families. Looking back, many of them were children of recent immigrants and there may have been grandparents who kept the family traditions alive. So how would I approach this issue with people who don’t recognize culture?
In part 2, I will share how I work with people to help them develop a cultural identity.
The white students began to feel left out. They felt they didn't have a culture. The director of the program at the time was highly skilled at facilitating this issue. As the program evolved, one of the advisors developed the category “plain ol' American.” As part of her presentation, she usually shared U.S. American cultural symbols such as baseball and apple pie. The more I encountered people who were unsure of their cultural identity the more I wanted to learn about how people perceived themselves. It has become a significant part of my journey as an interculturalist.
Ten years later when I was developing a course, this issue resurfaced. Before launching a course or adding a new activity to an existing course, I usually put together a focus group. We were researching activities to stimulate cultural conversation. My intern, who is white, couldn't tell me her ethnicity. She identified more as a Catholic. This became particularly relevant to her when she moved from a place with a large Catholic population to a Baptist university in a Baptist town. We concluded that our concept of identity had to be more inclusive.
I attended a Catholic high school, where most of the students were white. However, they knew their Irish, Italian, or Greek roots (See Diverse Birmingham). Even if there was intermarriage in their backgrounds, they knew the cultural roots of each side of their families. Looking back, many of them were children of recent immigrants and there may have been grandparents who kept the family traditions alive. So how would I approach this issue with people who don’t recognize culture?
In part 2, I will share how I work with people to help them develop a cultural identity.
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